Photograph by Justin Merriman
Bob Schneider, who has a couple dozen Austin Music Awards to his name, has been a fixture in the Austin scene since most of the scenesters were in diapers. Bob’s exploration of songwriting has allowed him to weave through the bluegrass, mambo, rap, blues, country, latin, rock, swing and soul genres. Pretty much nothing is out of the boundaries of his scope and surprisingly it all just seems to fit together. His recording career spans over 20 albums, including 11 solo albums. He’s also recorded full-lengths as part of The Scabs, Ugly Americans and Joe Rockhead. This year’s AMA was awarded to Bob Schneider & Lonelyland which is the band that backs him at his Monday night shows at Saxon Pub. He’s been playing at Saxon Pub (you know the bar with the suit of armor on South Lamar) for about 10 years. These shows cover new arrangements of his classics like “Tarantula,” “40 Dogs” and “Capn Kirk” and also allow him to experiment with new songs.
Bob Schneider - Let the Light InBob’s got a new solo album coming out on April 18th called, A Perfect Day. This album was inspired by a sunny cruise around Lake Travis and the first single “Let The Light In” definitely has a melodic summer pop feel. The song explores a story about the Wicked Witch and the Tin Man falling in love and left me thinking about what their spawn would look like, metallic green baby witches. The song takes me to comparisons with Wilco and Mason Jennings. But with all the genre switching Bob is known for, the songs on A Perfect Day probably won’t all even remotely sound like this lead single. The things you will be sure to find in all of Bob’s songwriting though are imaginative lyrics and memorable melodies.